Chapter 10: Medieval Kingdoms in Europe, 800 1300 Lesson 2: Peasants, Trade, & Cities
World History Bell Ringer #44 1-11-18 1. The Vikings were made part of European civilization by A. Their widespread invasions of Asian kingdoms. B. The conquest of Scandinavia in 911 by Charlemagne. C. The Frankish policy of settling them and converting them to Christianity. D. Their desire to sail to America. 2. The most important gift a lord could give to a vassal was A. A piece of land. C. His daughter in marriage. B. A dragon boat. D. A gold ring.
World History Bell Ringer #44 3. Which of the following was a code of ethics knights were to uphold? A. Chivalry. C. The Magna Carta. B. The fief. D. The Domesday Book. 4. At the heart of feudalism was A. The knight, who was the enforcer of the lord and a protector of the lord s lands. B. Serfdom, which meant that all non-vassals labored to support the serfs. C. The grant of serfs made to loyal vassals, which was known as a fief. D. Vassalage, which meant warriors swore loyalty to a lord, who in turn took care of their needs.
World History Bell Ringer #44 5. What caused the development of the political/social system of feudalism? A. A new code of ethics known as chivalry. B. The collapse of organized governments. C. The formation of a wealthy aristocratic class. D. A culture of warfare led by powerful kings. 6. Which group of people held the least amount of power under the system of feudalism? A. Peasants/serfs. C. Lords/vassals. B. Knights/vassals. D. King.
World History Bell Ringer #44 7. What was a feudal contract? A. A feudal contract was a signed document between a lord and all of the peasants who worked on his land. B. A feudal contract was a legal document describing a grant of land made to a vassal from a lord. C. A feudal contract was a code of ethics that knights were supposed to uphold when serving their lord. D. A feudal contract was a set of unwritten rules that determined the relationship between lord and vassal. 8. What does the term vassals mean? A. People who vocally protest. C. People in a subordinate position. B. People who work in agriculture. D. People enslaved in a colony.
It Matters Because During the High Middle Ages, new farming methods enabled Europe s population to grow. Many serfs worked the land under the manorial system. The revival of trade led to a money economy and the growth of cities.
The New Agriculture Guiding Question: How did new farming methods benefit Europe in the Middle Ages? In the Early Middle Ages, Europe had a relatively small population. In the High Middle Ages, however, population increased dramatically nearly doubling between 1000 and 1300 from approximately 38 million to 74 million people. What caused this huge increase? For one thing, Europe was more settled and peaceful after the invasions of the Early Middle Ages had stopped. Food production after 1000 also increased because the climate changed during the High Middle Ages, resulting in improved growing conditions.
The New Agriculture Changes in technology also aided the growth of farming. The Middle Ages witnessed an explosion of labor-saving devices. People harnessed the power of water and wind to do jobs once done by human or animal power. Many of these new devices were made from iron, which was mined in various areas of Europe. Iron was crucial in making the carruca- a heavy, wheeled plow with an iron plowshare. Unlike earlier plows, this plow, drawn by 6 or 8 oxen, easily turned over heavy clay soils. Use of the carruca also led to the growth of farming villages, where people worked together. Because iron was expensive, an entire community had to buy a carruca. Likewise, one family could not afford a team of animals, so villagers shared their beasts.
The New Agriculture Shifting from a two-field to a three-field crop rotation also increased food production. In the Early Middle Ages, peasants divided their land into 2 fields. They planted 1 field and allowed the other to lie fallow, or unplanted, to regain its fertility. Now, lands were divided into 3 parts. Peasants planted 1 field in the fall with grains, such as rye and wheat, that they harvested in summer. They planted the second field in spring with grains, such as oats and barley, and vegetables, such as peas and beans, that they harvested in fall. They allowed the third field to lie fallow. This way, only one-third (1/3), rather than one-half (1/2), of the land lay fallow at any time. This practice of rotating crops kept the soil fertile, while allowing people to grow more crops.
The Manorial System Guiding Question: What was life like for nobles and peasants under the economic system of manorialism? Landholding nobles were a military elite whose ability to be warriors depended on having the leisure time to pursue the arts of war. Landed estates, located on the fiefs given to a vassal by his lord and worked by peasants, gave the economic support that made the economic system of manorialism possible.
The Manorial System A manor was an agricultural estate that a lord ran and peasants worked. Increasing numbers of free peasants became serfs- peasants legally bound to the manor. Serfs had to give labor services, pay rents, and be subject to the lord s control. By 800, probably 60% of western Europeans were serfs. A serf s labor services included working the lord s land, which made up onethird (1/3) to one-half (1/2) of the cultivated land scattered throughout the manor. Peasants used the rest of the estate s land to grow food for themselves. Serfs usually worked about 3 days a week for their lords and paid rents by giving the lords a share of every product they raised. Serfs also paid the lords for the use of the manor s common pasturelands, streams, ponds, and woodlands.
The Manorial System Lords had a variety of legal rights over the serfs on their estates. Serfs could not leave the manor without the lord s permission. Lords often had political authority on their lands, which gave them the right to try peasants in their own courts. Even with these restrictions, however, serfs were not slaves. The land assigned to serfs to support themselves usually could not be taken away, and their responsibilities to the lord remained fairly fixed. It was also the lord s duty to protect his serfs, giving them the safety to farm the land.
The Manorial System The life of peasants in Europe was simple. Their cottages had wood frames surrounded by sticks, with the spaces between sticks filled with straw and rubble and then plastered over with clay. Roofs were simply thatched. The houses of poorer peasants consisted of a single room. Others had at least 2 rooms a main room for cooking, eating, and other activities and another room for sleeping. There was little privacy in a medieval household.
The Manorial System The seasons of the year largely determined peasant activities. Each season brought a new round of tasks. Harvest time in August and September was especially hectic. A good harvest of grains for making bread was crucial to survival in the winter months. A new cycle of labor began in October, when peasants worked the ground for the planting of winter crops. In November came the slaughter of excess livestock because there was usually not enough food to keep the animals alive all winter. The meat would be salted to preserve it for winter use. In February and March, the land was plowed for the planting of spring crops oats, barley, peas, and beans. Early summer was a fairly relaxed time, although there was still weeding and sheepshearing to be done.
The Manorial System In every season, the serfs worked not only their own land but also the lords lands. They also tended the small gardens next to their dwellings, where they grew the vegetables that made up part of their diet. The basic staple of the peasant diet, and of the medieval diet in general, was bread. Women made the dough for the bread. The loaves were usually baked in community ovens, which the lord owned. Highly nutritious, peasant bread contained not only wheat and rye but also barley, millet, and oats. These ingredients gave the bread a dark appearance and a heavy, hard texture.
The Revival of Trade Guiding Question: How did the revival of trade result in a commercial revolution during the Middle Ages? Medieval Europe was an agricultural society in which most people lived in small villages. In the 1000s and 1100s, however, Europe experienced a revival of trade and an associated growth of towns and cities.
The Revival of Trade The revival of trade in Europe was gradual. Italian cities, such as Venice, developed a mercantile fleet (a fleet of trading ships) and became major trading centers in the Mediterranean. The towns in Flanders, an area along the coast of present-day Belgium and northern France, were ideally located for northern European traders. Merchants from surrounding areas came to Flanders for woolen cloth. In the 13 th century, a medieval trade association, the Hanseatic League, developed in the Baltic and North Sea region. The Hanseatic League was an alliance of more than 100 northern European cities that banded together for mutual trade protection and economic opportunity.
The Revival of Trade By the 1100s, a regular trade had developed between Flanders and Italy. To encourage trade, the counts of Champagne, in northern France, initiated a series of annual (yearly) trade fairs. Northern European merchants brought furs, woolen cloth, tin, hemp, and honey to trade for cloth and swords from northern Italy and the silks, sugar, and spices of the East. As trade increased, so did the demand for gold and silver coins. Slowly, a money economy an economic system based on money rather than barter (exchange/trade) emerged. New trading companies and banking firms were set up to manage the exchange and sale of goods. These new practices were part of the rise of commercial capitalism- an economic system in which people invested in trade and goods for profit.
The Growth of Cities Guiding Question: What spurred the growth of cities in the Middle Ages? The revival of trade led to a revival of cities. Towns had greatly declined in the Early Middle Ages, especially in Europe north of the Alps. Old Roman cities had continued to exist, but they had dwindled in size and population. With the revival of trade, merchants began to settle in the old Roman cities. They were followed by craftspeople or artisans people who had developed skills and saw a chance to make goods that the merchants could sell. In the 11 th and 12 th centuries, the old Roman cities came alive with new populations and growth.
The Growth of Cities Many new cities or towns were also founded, especially in northern Europe. Usually a group of merchants built a settlement near a castle because it was located along a trade route or river and because the lords of the castle would offer protection. If the settlement prospered and expanded, new walls were built to protect it. The merchants and artisans of these new cities later came to be called burghers, or bourgeoisie, from the German word burg, meaning "a walled enclosure." Medieval cities were small in comparison with either ancient cities or modern cities. A large medieval trading city would have about 5,000 inhabitants.
The Growth of Cities Most towns were often part of a lord s territory and were therefore subject to his authority. However, townspeople needed freedom to trade. They wanted their own unique laws and were willing to pay for them. Lords and kings, in turn, saw that they could also make money and sold to the townspeople the liberties they wanted. By 1100, townspeople had numerous rights from local lords. These included the right to buy and sell property, freedom from military service to the lord, a written law that guaranteed townspeople their freedom, and the right for an escaped serf to become a free person after living a year and a day in the town.
The Growth of Cities Over time, medieval cities developed their own governments for running the affairs of the community. Only males who had been born in the city or who had lived there for some time were citizens. In many cities, these citizens elected the city council members, who served as judges and city officials who passed laws. Elections were rigged so that only patricians members of the wealthiest and most powerful families were elected to public office. Medieval cities were surrounded by stone walls. Walls were expensive to build, so the cities were tightly filled. They had narrow, winding streets, and houses were crowded against one another, with the second and third stories built out over the streets.
The Growth of Cities The physical environment of medieval cities was not pleasant. Often dirty, cities smelled from animal and human waste. Air pollution was also a fact of life. Smoke from wood fires or from the burning of cheap grades of coal filled the air. Considerably more men than women lived in medieval cities. Women were expected to supervise the household, prepare meals, raise the children, and manage the family s finances. Often, they helped their husbands in their trades, and some women developed their own trades to earn extra money. Sometimes, when a master craftsman died, his widow carried on his trade. It was thus possible for women in medieval towns to lead quite independent lives.
The Growth of Cities With the revival of trade, cities and towns became important centers for manufacturing a wide range of goods such as cloth, metalwork, shoes, and leather goods. Many craft activities were carried on in houses located in the narrow streets of medieval cities. From the 1000s on, craftspeople began to organize themselves into guilds, or business associations. Guilds played a leading role in the economic life of cities. By the 1200s, there were guilds for almost every craft, such as tanners and bakers, and separate guilds for specialized groups of merchants, such as dealers in silk, spices, or wool. Craft guilds directed almost every aspect of the production process. They set the standards for the quality of the articles produced and even fixed the price at which the finished goods could be sold. Guilds also determined the number of people who could enter a specific trade.
Assignment Complete Chapter 10, Lesson 2 Quiz. You are allowed to use your notes to assist you on completing your quiz, but NOT your Chromebook or phone! Turn your quiz into the organizer after you have finished completing it. Make sure your name is on your quiz before you turn it in!